Florida business owners have a duty to exercise reasonable care in ensuring that you, as a patron of that business, are protected from unreasonable harm. This applies to a number of locations that serve the public, including: grocery stores, theme parks, malls, hotels, apartment complexes, and more. In Florida, a business owner is required to have safeguards in place to prevent possible theft, rape, assaults, robberies, and murder from occurring on their property.
Know Your Legal Rights
It is important to know your legal rights if you have been injured while visiting a local business or apartment complex.
Your ability to win a negligent security case depends on the landowner or business owner’s duty to provide reasonable security to protect visitors from foreseeable crimes. Not all injuries can be prevented, but if the crime is foreseeable, given the type of business that is involved, the business owner or property owner is charged with providing some level of reasonable security to protect its patrons.
For example, if you are shopping at a mall where several robberies have occurred in the last few months, if the property owner fails to provide security to prevent future assaults from happening; and you are injured, you can file a negligent security claim against the mall owner. Security could be something as simple as providing proper lighting in the parking lot or offering security patrols. Inappropriate hiring and training of security guards can also lead to crime and assaults. If a crime was committed while security personnel were on duty, the business can be held liable.
Negligent security can also occur at hotels, motels, and apartment complexes in Central Florida. For example, if there were broken or missing locks on resident or guest doors, inadequate lighting in the parking lot, or poor maintenance of the property. If this caused you to be robbed, assaulted, or injured, you have grounds to file a negligent security lawsuit against the owner.
Proving Negligent Security in Florida
In these type cases, the victim must prove that the property owner failed to adequately protect them from risk or harm. They must also prove that the property was not in alignment with the safety standards required by law. The victim must also prove that they suffered injury or loss as a result of this negligence.
When it comes to negligent security cases, we have some important advice:
- Always obtain an incident or police report at the scene.
- Make sure the security officer and store manager are aware of what happened, and get their names and contact information, too.
- Get copies of all of these reports for evidence of what occurred. Document the scene as much as you can, showing the conditions of the floor, lighting, security, or anything else that could assist with your case.
- Preserve what you were wearing when the assault / injury occurred, including your shoes or clothes.
- Take photographs and get the names and contact information for any witnesses who saw what occurred.
- Do not sign anything given to you by the property owner or business owner without speaking to an attorney first. You may unknowingly waive your rights to pursue a case.
Personal injury cases are complex legal matters that require the assistance of a professional who has years of experience in this area of the law. Our firm is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In Orlando and throughout Central Florida, victims injured in auto accidents or through negligence need only hit the 7s to reach the personal injury offices of the Benenati Law Firm. Our oath to you is handling your case from start to finish effectively, competently, and aggressively. Allow us the opportunity to give you the personal attention you deserve in your case. You pay us nothing unless we win your case. Please do not hesitate to call our office today at 407-777-7777 for a free legal consultation.
Abogado Hispano con experiencia en juicios sirviendo las necesidades legales de la comunidad de la Florida.